Catherine noticed that her tension for her fourth “Misty Rose” dishcloth by Kim Cameron was much looser and therefore a full one inch larger than her first.

She got it back down to the original size when she started focusing again on dishcloth #5. She is also working on “Among the Wildflowers” by Sasha Ball Rives. Northcoast Knittery has worked up this pattern in a number of different yarns shown here.

Brainy Thing: Can your Right Brain help you organize your stash?

Margaret revisits the Right and Left Brain theory and mentions the neuroscientist Jill Bolte Taylor whose Ted Talk chronicles her experience of having a stroke in the left side of her brain. She also talks about Corothy Lehmkuhl’s and Dolores Cotter Lamping’s book Organizing for the Creative Personwhich offers understanding of different styles of right-brain dominant and left-brain dominant people.

Behind the Redwood Curtain

Catherine discusses the Humboldt Marten, a weasel that controls rats and mice, but that is severely diminished in numbers.

Humboldt Marten

Knitting Tip:

We correct our previous tip that using larger needles will make a stretchier cast-on when using the long tail cast on (Thank you, Paula, from Knitting Pipeline). Catherine offers the tip that if you know you’re going to have a stressful day, you might want to begin it with a few minutes of knitting to reap the calming effects.

Podcast business

The Learn-along ends August 1. The randomly selected prize will be three skeins of Studio Donegal , a real Irish Donegal tweed, 88 yards each in a dk weight.

The next incentive prize for joining our Ravelry group for members 301 to 400 is a skein of Fiesta Rayon Boucle yarn in the Catalina colorway. The 240 yards are enough to make an airy summer wrap.

Welcome to Episode 19: How physical activity grow brain cells.

What We’re Learning from Our Knitting (and Crochet)

The Fantasy Red Cardi is now Catherine’s carry-along knitting although she’s having a little sock knitting withdrawal. This baby cardigan is by Knitting Kate or Katherine Foster.

Fantasy Red Cardi

The wool is “purple neutral” by Steinbach Woole Strapaz and an identified ball of yarn which is probably from Three Irish Girls.

Some of the “charms” in the Dogwood Scarf

Catherine is also starting the Dogwood Scarf a Charm Crochet project by Suzann Thompson She’s using a variety 100% cotton Ti Di by Knit One Crochet Too and leftovers. She’s ordered a number of plant fiber yarns from Knit Picks to try them out.

Margaret is trying our knitting on 12 inch and 9 inch circular needles. She knit hat (premie size) as a sample to show new knitters one way to finish up a hat.

Brain Thing:

Behind the Redwood Curtain

We talk about clams, clamming and Clam Beach.

Clam Beach, California but no clammers clamming.

A Knitting Tip

Margaret suggest trying to enter “Beginner’s Mind” with no expectations and trying tools that challenge you. She’s trying 12 inch and 9 inch circular needles right now and certainly feels like a beginner.

Podcast Business

The incentive prize, a gift for a randomly selected person out of each 100 people who join the group on Ravelry continues. Also, the people are jumping into the Learn-along. The Ravelry Group is here.